Taiwan’s opposition launches ‘symbolic’ campaign to impeach president

According to observers, Taiwan’s opposition parties have begun a campaign to remove Premier Cho Jung-tai and President William Lai Ching-te from office, which is the most recent indication of growing political unrest within the self-ruled island.

President Lai and Premier Cho are accused of violating the constitution and the legislative process by the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Friday.

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Legislators from the KMT, TPP, and two independents gained enough seats on Friday to start the proceedings, but they are still far behind the two-thirds majority of lawmakers required to pass a May 19 impeachment vote.

Observers claim that the impeachment proceedings provide the opposition with a symbolic platform to express their disapproval of Lai’s presidency and Cho’s leadership despite the fact that they are unlikely to pass any more constitutional hurdles in Taiwan.

According to Yen-tu Su, a top research institution in Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, “it’s impossible to have a real impeachment,” it would be the first president to be considered impeached in the history of Taiwan’s democracy.

“It’s a means to express their protest.” He claimed that it serves as a way to humiliate the president and a way to protest the legislators’ refusal to pass laws.

Since Lai took office in 2024 amid a divided government, Taiwan’s legislature has been largely in disarray.

Although Lai led his center-left Democratic Progressive Party to a record-setting third consecutive term in office last year, political unrest has erupted.

Political parties have engaged in legislative battles over everything from the budget to Taiwan’s relationship with China, to the composition of the island’s constitutional court, whose work has been slowed for the most part due to internal conflict.

The KMT has also blocked the president’s highly anticipated supplemental $40 billion bill to increase Taiwan’s defense spending, while Lai’s government is still struggling to pass some of the 2026 budget.

Cho, for his part, argued that the plan was unworkable by vetoing a bill earlier this month that would have simplified the distribution of tax revenues between Taiwan’s local and central government.

Brian Hioe, a frequent contributor to Taiwan politics and a non-resident fellow at the University of Nottingham’s Taiwan Research Hub, stated to Al Jazeera that the impeachment campaign was more of a symbolic gesture than a practical action.

Hioe said, “I believe it’s just a stunt to get attention.”

They also “just want to portray [Lai] as violating democratic institutions in a way beyond the pale,” he said, adding that the impeachment campaign was likely to appeal to steadfast KMT and TPP supporters rather than swing voters.

Su from Academia Sinica claimed that Taiwan’s political system’s impeachment fight was a sign of much bigger issues.

He claimed that Taiwan is just past its second period of divided government.